Charlottesville filmmaker Mark Edwards and Mary Michaud are going to be showing their latest film Friday night at the Martin Luther King Jr. Performing Arts Center.
But then they are taking the show on the road.
True, they have sent off an entry form to see if they can get [...]
Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger
Republicans are having all the fun these days of having a wide-open presidential nomination contest—OK, guys named Tom and Duncan are likely to drop soon but they still have a Mitt, a Fred, a Rudy, a Ron, a Mike and a John—and now [...]
What’s the million-dollar question? Where do I land two tickets for the Virginia-Virginia Tech game? That one, however, is outside my control so save the e-mails. ... But kick yourself for failing to get season tickets. Besides, minus the Pittsburgh landslide, the 2007 home schedule has provided local football fans [...]
Lets try this blog thing again. ... Heading out of the Sunshine State on Sunday, I dropped seven quarters for a newspaper at an over-crowded airport. I guess I needed to see it again for my own eyes. And, yes, the score had not changed. It still said: Virginia 48, [...]
The People’s Republic of Charlottesville; it’s a joke, and always a disparaging one at that, that people toss at the city government because it gets involved in some of the strangest activities for a medium-sized city. For instance, our republic has come out with foreign policy recommendations in the past, [...]
I walked a few steps behind the skirted student down the dark street behind the hallowed halls of UVa on my way to a meeting between university and city police and students about safety, attention and folks that rob you in the night.
She wasn’t thinking about who was behind her. [...]
Hollywood’s writers went on strike Monday, but the effect of their impending walkout was felt much earlier in Charlottesville.
Word has it that the it was hard for actors to commit to attending the Virginia Film Festival this year, because they were so busy getting “films in the can.”
While [...]
Do you know what I miss at the Virginia Film Festival?
Popcorn.
By the end of Day 3, I have seen seven films and been to five discussions but I have yet to have one kernel of true corn.
In the old days, like last week, I never would have [...]
Keep your ticket stubs. This is a special moment. Wake Forest placekicker Sam Swank, one of the nation’s best, missed a field goal from inside 50 yards. To Swank’s credit, the missed attempt did clang off the left upright. ... Virginia’s offense has been Wake Forest’s best defense. Sound weird? [...]
Virginia and Wake have exchanged a pair of field goals in the first quarter. Thus far, the two teams looked pretty evenly matched. ... Josh Zidenburg had a pretty good kickoff return for Virginia. The senior raced 55 yards. Wake will likely kick it away from Jay-Z next time (I [...]
The Cavaliers won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. Wake Forest is 6-1 in games in which it losses the toss. Talk about a cool (and meaningless) stat. ... Virginia’s opening kickoff was a moment to forget. Chris Gould, after faking a quick kick, lofted a [...]
Greetings, earthlings. Welcome back to another addition of Virginia football. ... A quick injury update - CB Chris Cook, FB Rashawn Jackson and TE Tom Santi are in uniform. Redshirt freshman LB John Bivens is not, but I have no clue as to why. Perhaps it is his knee again. [...]
OK. It’s 1:30 and I just got home from Day Two of the Virginia Film Festival.
I’m tired, so let me get straight to the point.
Here are two films to put on your must see list.
1) “The Savages.”
New York Magazine film critic David Edelstein, who carried a [...]
It’s all about family.
I was so excited to get in to Harry Chotiner’s Behind-the-Scenes workshop at this year’s Virginia Film Festival. A former vice president of Twentieth Century Fox, he knows his way around movies.
It can be a little daunting to pick up a program and select [...]
The question is, should Charlottesville pay a cool mill to start a new ambulance service?
The answer is no.
We’re lucky to have one of the best-trained, best-equipped emergency/rescue teams in the state right here in our fair city and right downtown where they can get pretty much anywhere pretty quickly. We’ve [...]
We have called to order the latest meeting of the running-swimming-biking-eating-drinking-kayaking-sumo wrestling-book club.
(I will have to fill you in on the sumo wrestling in the next installment, but it is a true story.)
This weekend’s outdoor adventure, however, started several months ago when someone suggested that our cult, I mean club, [...]
We will have to bag the last N.C. State TD for now. ... Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell was injured. The signal caller appeared to roll his ankle. He was in serious pain on the field. Peter Lalich, who was in for two plays and a false start last week, was [...]
The “Cardiac Cavs” are at it again. Just when it looked like the offense could not muster a pulse .. Boom! Virginia scores (and gets scored on). It was amazing (and I don’t really believe it). How can one team - win or lose - play games in this fashion [...]
Ras-I Dowling, a true freshman, tied a school record in the third quarter. The cornerback broke up his fifth pass of the game. That tied Jason Wallace (1989 vs. Virginia Tech) and Joe Crocker (1995 vs. Clemson). I told you Dowling would be good. ... Is it just me or [...]
It took what seemed like an eternity, but Virginia’s defense finally forced back-to-back 3-and-outs. ... Virginia’s offense failed to take advantage the first time, leading to a punt from Chris Gould. I think Gould should be called the punting vulture. He steals almost all the punts that land inside the [...]
There was a nice flurry of scoring in the final 91 seconds of the first half. ... N.C. State scored before I could tie my shoe. The Wolfpack moved it 75 yards in five plays before another Virginia cornerback (Vic Hall) was abused. Virginia safety Jamaal Jackson, who was also [...]
Virginia RB Mikell Simpson has done it again. The sophomore scored on a shovel pass from Jameel Sewell, putting Virginia back in the game - at least for now. Lost on the play was the excellent block at the end zone from Staton Jobe. Is it time to give this [...]
He is 7-1 as a starter this season, but Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell sure has an uncanny ability of wrecking a drive. Sewell, who was given enough time, tossed a bullet to an N.C. State defender for his second interception of the day. ... Get some ice bags ready for [...]
North Carolina State has scored again - the Wolfpack got a field goal to take another 7-point lead. ... Virginia dominated time of possession in the first quarter. The Cavaliers had the ball almost 11 minutes. Perhaps that will play a factor later, but N.C. State’s defense looks fresh to [...]
Virginia is on the board. The Cavaliers marched 71 yards on 14 plays, but settled for a 23-yard field goal from Chris Gould. Points are points, but Virginia fans would have enjoyed a touchdown after such a lnegthy drive. The play-calling was above average until the unit met the red [...]
We have liftoff. ... N.C. State won the toss and will take the ball in the second half. ... Virginia’s first drive was a thing of beauty. After a lackluster kickoff return (imagine that), the first snap shot through quarterback Jameel Sewell’s hands and left the Cavaliers facing 2nd-and-a-mile. After [...]
Is it just me? I was throughly disgusted with last night’s episode of “The Biggest Loser.”
This is the show that has inspired thousands of people across the country to get up off the couch and get active.
It’s the one reality show that actually makes people want to be [...]
I’m perusing the headlines this morning over a cup of decaf while recovering from a bizarre Halloween awakening by a malfunctioning iPod, it’s amplified speaker system and Leonard Cohen’s gravely voice singing one word over and over again: “Hallelujah.”
Growth Key Issue for White Hall Seat says one line over a [...]
Thanks to yet another gut-check win, Virginia has climbed in the coaches poll. The Cavaliers (7-1) jumped from No. 24 to No. 18. Virginia’s players could use the latest poll as motivation - not that they need it. The Cavs are ranked behind four two-loss teams (and I agree with [...]
My buddy Wes sent me an e-mail a few minutes ago and said he thought Homer Simpson had a better chance of scoring a touchdown than Mikell Simpson. You are not along my friend. The biggest knock on Simpson over the past few months has been his inability to run [...]
The talk in the press box is comical. Not one writer in this building expected Mikell Simpson to play a role in this game. And you can take the member of the media to Las Vegas if he or she had told you that Simpson was going to score a [...]
Virginia true freshman and back-up quarterback Peter Lalich started warming up with about 6 minutes left in the first half, but the coaching staff left starter Jameel Sewell in the game. ... It was the first time I can remember Lalich warming up in about a month. ... Sewell did [...]
Maryland’s ground game is making Virginia look silly. The Cavaliers have certainly helped with several missed tackles. The unit looks soft at spots right now and Maryland took advantage, scoring another touchdown. ... Lance Ball looked like a stud on the Terps’ scoring drive. ... Virginia’s next drive started well [...]
Maryland and Virginia exchanged a pair of punts. Maryland easily won that contest. ... In the first quarter, Virginia ran 20 plays and gained 120 yards. Thanks to a missed field goal that led to only three points. ... The Terps looked more fluid on offense, but only gained 88 [...]
Virginia senior Chris Gould, a hero in the past two games, shanked a field goal moments ago. That was Gould’s third miss season - one of those was blocked. ... Going “wdie right” ruined a nice drive that included a pair of 11-yard runs from tailback Keith Payne. ... This [...]
At this rate, Virginia and Maryland will get the over in the first half. The Terps put together a 69-yard drive with ease and scored on a 3-yard touchdown run by Keon Lattimore. Maryland QB Chris Turner only passed twice on the drive but those two attempts went for 31 [...]
Virginia took the opening kickoff and pulled off a beautiful drive. It only led to a field goal, but it was the play selections and the weapons involved that surprised. ... En route to the field goal, we had a Mikell Simpson sighting. Simpson had five catches for 38 yards [...]
I spoke with a source that confirmed that wideout Kevin Ogletree made the trip to College Park, Md. ... It does not mean he will play, but Virginia coach Al Groh typically does not take players as a decoy. Stay tuned for more info on this one. Also look for [...]
For some reason, people love polls. Here is one man’s opinion of the Top 25 Virginia players to date to help get you through the day until Virginia tries to tackle Maryland tonight.
1. Chris Long - DE - Senior - Do you really need an explanation? The [...]
Remember that killer bacteria that’s out there infecting us, the one you get from hanging out in high schools, meeting people in public and, especially, being treated in a hospital? Yeah, the one that can’t be killed by your basic antibiotic, that killed a Virginia youth a month or so [...]
Blame it on the darned VHSL football playoff system, if you want to be traditionalist about it. I think it makes more sense to credit it to the brilliant postseason structure.
After all, who wouldn’t want to see a Monticello-Western Albemarle rematch? I’m already excited about the thought, and the first [...]
Robert Lapham, who grew up not so far from my home town of Lansing, Michigan and died when I was a 10-year-old fascinated by Walter Cronkite, Huntley and Brinkley and the images of the Vietnam war, came home to Marshall.
Maj. Robert G. Lapham, U.S. Air Force, of Marshall, Michigan, will [...]
Did Dionne Warwick know the way to the hearts of Charlottesville’s audience?
You betcha.
Even the fan who had just come along for the curiosity factor ended up on her feet clapping for five minutes, hoping to coax the Grammy-winning singer back on stage for one more tune.
Yes, [...]
OK, grandad, here’s 24 additional dollars a month. That should get you through all the rising prices and buy all the things you need.
Huh? What? Sure, I know that’s only a 2.3 percent increase but most of us only get 3 percent this year, at least according to federal estimates. [...]
Bacteria that lurks about medical equipment looking to infest an open wound will eat your flesh, dive into your bloodstream and kill you from the inside much like rope climbing day in gym class.
Does that make any one else nervous?
They say that, soon, it may kill more Americans than AIDS.
Is [...]
The William Monroe defense didn’t accomplish much on Friday night in a 35-7 loss to Orange County. The team’s losing streak continued, reaching 23 games, and the Greene Dragons never even got close to beating the visiting Hornets.
Still, by only allowing five touchdowns to OCHS, William Monroe kept the Orange [...]
Some folks are just plain nice.
Take L.F. Wood, the man who puts the putt in Putt-Putt. He’s sitting on a nice piece of property behind a bank, across from a sports bar, next to a slew of offices, across from Fashion Square Money Magnet and down the road from several [...]
Even the Fluvanna County football team’s pasta dinner was pulling for Western Albemarle on Friday night.
The Flucos flew into Crozet and never really had a chance. Part of it was the Western passing attack led by surprise success Stephen Schuler. Most of it was the food poisoning that sent more [...]
Word came down from the ACC office and Virginia and Maryland will meet in College Park, Md., next Saturday at 8 p.m. The game will be shown on ESPN2.
[...]Virginia has done it again. It was not easy. It was not pretty. It was far from perfect. But as I have been told, a win is a win. ... Virginia could have made it easier down the stretch, but Chris Gould pushed a field goal wide right with 27 [...]
Chris Gould for Heisman. OK, so that is over the top, but the kid made a tough field goal with 3:20 left. The angle was brutal - it was from the left hash mark. It looked like Gould chipped it through with a pitching wedge. ... Virginia is going to [...]
The Huskies are on the board. Thanks to those penalties that were previously mentioned, UConn moved down the field and was forced to settle for a field goal. Red zone defense will be the talk of the town if Virginia finds a way to win. ... The ensuing kickoff rolled [...]
It’s time to give some props to the Scott Stadium faithful. The fans have been loud throughout the game, especially during key third downs. The defense has needed it. ... Mike Parker and Vic Hall were called for a pair of pass interference on the latest UConn drive. Both were [...]
Groundhog Day anyone? Different week yet we have the same scenario. Virginia plays a game and there is doubt in the air as to the end result. This team is likely rough on the stomach of its fanbase. It’s beautiful from a journalistic standpoint. ... Connecticut might not win the [...]
It would appear that the infamous third quarter streak will continue. Virginia, for a lack of better words, is garbage in the third quarter on offense. Jameel Seweel, the Cavaliers’ signal caller, can take some credit for that. The southpaw fired a strike early in the third stanza right into [...]
Holy Cow! We have witnessed history. Vic Hall, an All-State quarterback at Gretna, was used on offense. And it worked. Hall took the ball, bought some time and flipped a floater up for Chris Gorham (Yes, the same Gorham that I advised not passing to). The play drew a large [...]
Don’t call it a comeback … We have been here before. After a short delay (and the realization that blogging from my assigned seat in the press box will not work), I have a new seat. I gave up my seat on the 50-yard line to sit on the 20 [...]
I’m trying to determine whether we are dumb as dirt or smart as hell.
We’re either so dumb that we’re going to let ourselves be stuck in traffic and choke on our exhaust while having to buy bottled water because water restrictions won’t let us use our taps or we’re [...]
I had to check twice. Even then, I had a hard time believing what I saw.
I mean, seriously, VHSL Region II, Division 3 Power Rankings, are you telling me the Western Albemarle football team is a playoff squad? I know the Warriors are not terrible, and they have won half [...]
On July 7, 1944, nine U.S. Army Air Corps personnel joined hundreds of others in bombing a German aircraft factory near Bernburg, Germany. Unlike most and too much like many others, they never made it back their base in North Pickenham, England.
The B-24J Liberator bomber they were in was last [...]
Somedays you wake up and just couldn’t, even if you tried really, really hard with your eyes squinted and screwed down so tight that your toes curled up, care less.
Today is one of those days. Maybe I’m just tired. Maybe I’ve talked to too many people or they’ve talked to [...]
For something that is absolutely meaningless in terms of national championship implications, the Associated Press Top 25 college football poll receives a lot of attention each week.
In essence, it’s nothing more than irrelevant speculation among sports journalists attempting to determine which teams are the best in the country each week. [...]
Let us all cheer for the tide has turned on the Gang of White Ts.
The spate of asasults committed by kids in long, white T-shirts has apparently ended as police cleaned up the streets and proved there is no gain in such behavior. Two have gone through the super-secret Juvenile [...]
They’re out there protesting, their white hearts beating red blood, their people oppressed for lo, these many years, and all because a statue erected in 1919 doesn’t show what they believe is proper respect for the Native American guide who made the Lewis and Clark expedition successful.
Oh, waaaaaaah.
OK, I feel [...]
Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger
A great blue heron flew slowly, gracefully just above the low-flow Rivanna River this morning, moving north from his normal rocky perch in the middle of the river several hundred yards above where the Woolen Mills Dam once stood.
As he flapped [...]
Company A, so they say, is safe and sound if not secure in Al Taqaddum Iraq running convoy support missions just outside of Baghdad. Their job is to escort convoys of a variety of goods from fuel tankers to military materiel all about the Al Anbar province.
It’s a dangerous job, [...]
Somebody needed to pay.
For Monticello, the target was a logical one. Albemarle’s victim must have wondered what it did to deserve it. Charlottesville still hasn’t washed the taste of a four-game losing streak from its mouth and any team getting in its way since then has suffered because of it.
All [...]
It was not pretty, but it looks the same in the win column. ... Virginia kicker Chris Gould nailed a 34-yard field goal with eight ticks left to lift the Wahoos. Gould, who was the first person to meet with the media afterwards, said he was confident that he could [...]
Perhaps Andrew Pearman is thinking about joining the Virginia baseball team. The tailback took an option pitch from Jameel Sewell early in the fourth quarter and slide into the right corner of the end zone. Pearman is making a name for his touchdown-scoring tactics. ... B.J. Cabbell drew the wrath [...]
Cedric Peerman will not return tonight. The ACC’s leading tailback appeared to sprain his ankle during the first half. Peerman, who had five carries for 19 yards, is on the sidelines in street clothes and on crutches. Redshirt freshman Keith Payne appears to be the No. 1 option for this [...]
Andrew Pearman made the best play of his career a moment ago. The junior running back took a pitch from quarterback Jameel Sewell and turned the right corner with a burst of speed. Pearman raced down to the right corner of the stadium before leaping into the air over wide [...]
Virginia’s secondary, known as the weak link for an extended period of time, looks lost. Even Chris Cook, the most dependable player in the unit, was beaten on a pass pattern that turned into the game’s third touchdown. MTSU, should they decide to attack, could pick on this unit all [...]
Virginia defensive end Chris Long added line to his bio. The senior blocked a field goal in the second quarter. ... Virginia has a problem - running back Cedric Peerman has been pulled from the game to get his right ankle taped. Keith Payne, a redshirt freshman, replaced Peerman. From [...]
Middle Tennessee graciously welcomed Virginia to Floyd Stadium by a pair of penalties during the Cavaliers’ third offensive possession. The costly one in the bunch came after Ryan Weigand had booted a punt. The call? It was holding against MTSU. It gave Virginia a first down and a pulse. The [...]
Middle Tennessee scored the game’s first touchdown. The TD came on a 24-yard pass from Dwight Dasher to Taron Henry. The play showed what Virginia lacks on defense. The team needs better play from its secondary. After running 14 plays, MTSU has 74 yards of total offense. The Blue Raiders [...]
The Blue Raiders are having a timeout party. Less than 10 minutes into the game, MTSU has called two timeouts. It has helped slow this contest down to a snail’s pace. ... The attendance at this game is awful. Without knowing the figure, it would appear that about 18,000 people [...]
Virginia has proven one thing: it is not interested in running routes beyond the first-down marker on pass plays. The Cavaliers also need to get Cedric Peerman on track. The tailback has looked a tad off his usual game, but it is early. ... Virginia’s first six plays led to [...]
We are underway in Murfreesboro, Tenn. ... Virginia failed to move the ball on its first possession, marking the first time since the season opener that the Cavaliers failed to score on their first drive. ... The Blue Raiders, after attempting to throw a deep pass on first down, matched [...]
Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger
A barely noticeable mist covered the Blue Ridge and points east this morning and temperatures felt more like an early August morning than early October.
A mature male bald eagle winged his way up the Rivanna. He was a beautiful sight as he followed the [...]
Betty Buckley knows her stuff.
She’s been performing professionally since she was 15 years old.
On her first day in New York, she went to her first audition, on Broadway, no less. It was for the male-heavy “1776.”
There were only two female leads ... Buckley, then 21, walked [...]
It was all free.
There is nothing free, I thought, standing next to the chain link fence at Monticello High School’s track, watching the hotdogs grilling and the cupcakes being snatched up by hungry students and washed down with sugared soft drinks. Everything has a price.
No, they said, it’s a tailgate. [...]
Forget the luck of the Irish. Louisa is seemingly cursed because of the Irish.
The similarities are almost endless. Big-time program led by an innovative offensive mind achieves major success during the past few years and now suddenly and unexpectedly falls to the bottom rung of the ladder, struggling to score [...]
Bob Gibson
Daily Progress political blogger
A great blue heron stood watch today over the Rivanna River a few hundred yards above what once was the Woolen Mills dam.
About a mile or two east of Charlottesville’s $15,000 whale tail, this big gray-blue boy stood beautiful and tall and [...]
At the risk of sounding like a broken record ...
Now there’s a metaphor with little meaning in today’s society. A broken record was one of life’s greatest sorrows Back In The Day as well as a great pleasure when the unmistakable sound of a stuck needle—no, not the kind of [...]
Mark Reynolds will take my next phone call – I think.
Sitting in a tiny town – at least compared to Phoenix – with a pen in hand often translates into rough encounters with former quotes – regardless of the sport.
Playing at Virginia or calling Charlottesville as a secondary [...]
The Mad Hatter just sent me a warning: “Yo, ‘s’up! Tell the babies that crews are gonna do some lines out in the street tomorrow and all turns are gonna be right for the big-hand sweep.”
OK, he didn’t say that. He doesn’t actually talk that way. He says a lot [...]
Now that Michael Vick’s 49 dogs have been tested for suitability to keep on living, we’re happy to announce only one, his girlfriend’s poodle Fifi, was required to be put down.
I know what you’re thinking: Of all those vicious, mean, throat-tearing, flesh-chewing, jaw-clenching pit bulls, only the poodle was euthanized? [...]
Monticello coach Brud Bicknell doesn’t want to hear any talk about playoffs. It’s early in the season, he insists, and there are still a lot of games to be played. There is the threat of injuries always looming and five other Jefferson District teams waiting to knock off the early [...]
Johnny isn’t marching home, but at least he’s home.
Government officials have brought home the remains of two American servicemen nearly 40 years after their C-130 cargo plane exploded in the sky over Kham Duc Special Forces camp near Da Nang. Capt. Warren R. Orr Jr., U.S. Army, of Kewanee, Ill. [...]
Wow! The Charlottesville City Council has made a decision that will actually make the Meadowbrook Parkway a possible, very likely, potential possibility!
Be still my beating heart! Quick Candy, get me my pills!
The city council has agreed to give the Highway People a temporary easement so they can run their trucks [...]
I’m a blogger, but Amber Gardner is a writer. Here’s the prose the audio doc penned to honor me and our running cul ... club at Sunday’s surprise party:
“The ABCs of Mary Alice”
A great afternoon floating down the James River.
Black pants—essential until the mercury rises to over 90.
Cindy’s [...]
Sometimes your worlds collide.
You can’t go run with your friends because you have to work. You can’t go to a family gathering because you already signed up to run a race.
You just can’t be in three places at once.
My worlds collided on Sunday and my friends from [...]
According to ESPN, the game between Virginia and Connecticut will be played at 3:30 p.m. on Oct. 13. The contest will be aired on ESPNU. The game suddenly looks appealing to the network - the Cavaliers have won four straight and UConn remains undefeated five games into the season.
[...]Greed, avarice and other foundations of the banking business, having seeped into the DNA of college institutions everywhere that keep raising, raising and raising tuition while begging, begging, begging alumni for new money that will go into new buildings and cause the raising, raising raising of tuition for years to [...]
Monticello quarterback Mike Graham? You can call him Sandy Koufax.
Takeem Hedgeman has a Catfish Hunter thing going on. Jacob Pelton is more like David Cone. Daniel Lieb is rocking a Dennis Martinez vibe. Jake Miles is the David Wells of the group.
Perfection. The Mustangs embodied it on Friday night.
In [...]
Do you want to know the biggest buzz of the night in the press box? Many armchair quarterbacks asked why Virginia ran a fake field goal in the fourth quarter. The point is debatable, but why not ask this: Why did Pitt fail to stop it? The Panthers put up [...]
Thanks to wins Saturday by Virginia and UConn, multiple sources said the two teams will play at 7 p.m. in Charlottesville on Oct. 13. The game would be on ESPNU. The official announcement will not be handed down until Monday, but slapping the Cavaliers and Huskies on TV makes far [...]
Give some love to Virginia tight end Tom Santi. With two first-half catches, the senior is now tied with former tight end Bob Bischoff for fourth in receptions made by a player at that position in the program. Santi has a long way to go to catch the legend known [...]
I find out very odd that all the “Groh Must Go” signs have vanished. Sure, they are a losing streak from returning but everybody seems to love a winner and Virginia coach Al Groh will be two wins from Boise in 27 minutes. ... The Panthers’ first drive was stalled [...]
After watching the mental meltdown known as the first half, at least one media member in the press box at Scott Stadium wondered if Pitt would return. Having witnessed the game in Wyoming, it is probably a good idea that the Panthers returned. This game is far from over, but [...]
